Shahmir Khan, Talaal Burny, Mehmood Ali, Faizan Khan and Mohammad Zohaib, Travly
Comments by Azhar Rizvi:
This team has launched an Uber-like rickshaw service in Lahore. Rickshaw is Lahore’s preferred vehicle for commuting. The Travly team was a group of young boys who came up with the idea of starting a web and mobile application for booking a rickshaw. They are now gradually consolidating in other cities. The Travly story is great example of value addition when major customer buy-in can be brought about through improvements in the logistics of small tech-based interventions. I met these boys in a business plan competition NUST-Discover. The five and a half month program took them through rigorous mentoring and coaching for business planning. In the process, they became among the top contenders. It was a new concept and much before its time in Pakistan. I could see the value these kids could bring into the transport sector through telecom and mobile tech. As a mentor, it was a pleasure training them and today it is evident that major platforms like Uber and Careem are using the same idea though on a much larger scale.
Hailing Rickshaws in Lahore
Five classmates at the Beaconhouse National University (BNU), Lahore decided to make a bus route app that would make life easier for commuters by connecting them to public transport.
In 2013, they took time off their last year of college to pilot this idea at Plan9. However, they soon realized that bus commuters were not a viable market from a commercialization standpoint. They turned the project around and, in rethinking the model, developed an app that connects commuters to rickshaws registered with them. Not only do their rickshaws have more customers, but also the rickshaw commuter market has proven to be more lucrative in terms of purchasing power and market size. Travly has more than 500 registered rickshaws in Lahore and are now expanding their services to other cities.
Travly demonstrates to young entrepreneurs that an idea is only as great as the market it serves. If the venture has market value, the product will have better chances of success. The entrance of the global ride-share apps and Uber and Careem for Rickshaws are a big endorsement for the Travly team and they gain to benefit from the first mover advantages.
